GREENWOOD, S.C. – Host Lander trekked to the charity stripe 34 times on Wednesday evening in Greenwood and converted 29 of those free throws to best the UNC Pembroke women's basketball team by a 75-54 score in Peach Belt Conference (PBC) action at Finis Horne Arena.  

GAME INFORMATION
Score: UNC Pembroke 54, Lander 75
Records: UNC Pembroke (3-6, 1-4 PBC); Lander (10-2, 5-1 PBC)
Location: Finis Horne Arena
Series: Lander leads 33-20

HOW IT HAPPENED
Box Score/Play-by-Play

FIRST QUARTER
-The Braves held a slim, 4-2 lead after a pair of Avery Locklear free throws at the 6:38 mark of the opening period before Lander rattled off an 11-o run over the next 1:41 to take a 13-4 lead.
-UNCP closed the quarter on an 11-5 run, which was capped off by a Jillian Ebron layup with three seconds to play, to trim the deficit to 18-15 at the end of the first.

SECOND QUARTER
-Lander doubled up the Black & Gold 16-8 in the second quarter thanks in large part to an 8-0 in the first five minutes of action.
-The hosts took their largest lead of the first half on a pair of free throws with 31 seconds to play, but a Nyla Allen 3-pointer at the buzzer sent the teams to the locker room with Lander ahead 34-23.

THIRD QUARTER
-Both teams had their best scoring quarter of the night in the third, as Lander outscored UNCP 23-18 coming out of the half.
-UNCP cut its deficit to eight with under five minutes to play to force a Bearcat timeout, but the hosts used a 13-5 run the rest of the way to lead 57-41 after three.

FOURTH QUARTER
-The Braves whittled the Lander lead down to 14 at 62-48 with 5:23 to play, but the Bearcats coasted to a 75-54 victory and led by as many as 23 with under two minutes on the clock.

NOTABLES
-Each team shot just over 33 percent from the field and the Braves made one more basket overall (21-20) than Lander.
-The game was decided at the free-throw line, as the Bearcats attempted 34 freebies and knocked down 29, while UNCP was 7-of-9 at the charity stripe.
-Lander outrebounded the Black & Gold by a 48-34 margin and turned 15 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.
-Allen led all Braves with 13 points to give her double-digit points in five-straight games and grabbed four rebounds.
-Alecia Hardy added 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while Brandi Robinson hauled in a team-high seven rebounds and chipped in five points.
-Lander's Breshay Johnson poured in a game-high 23 points thanks to a 17-for-18 performance at the free-throw line. She came one rebound shy of her fourth-consecutive double-double.

UP NEXT
The Braves return home for the first time since Dec. 19 on Saturday when Georgia College treks to Pembroke for a PBC battle. Tipoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. on the front end of a women's-men's doubleheader at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. The Bobcats (6-5, 3-2 PBC) are winners of five of their last six after a 76-63 win over Georgia Southwestern on Wednesday evening. UNCP is 9-29 against Georgia College since joining the PBC prior to the 1992-93 season, but knocked off the Bobcats 71-51 in Pembroke last season on Jan. 6.